OkaForPrez’s top 10 unsolicited advisements for a good boneyard season.

[OkaForPrez]

Fellow people in need of therapy, casuals,

This year marks my 20th on the yard. We’ve been through a lot together, high highs and low lows. I feel like I know some of you personally. I feel like I never want to know some of you personally. We’re a big weird family. It’s concerning how much time we spend in each other’s “company.”

In honor of 20 years I thought I would impart some message board wisdom I’ve acquired over two decades. I hope you find at least one of these thoughts to be personally relevant and valuable. And if not…

1. Never underestimate the power of saying nothing. Nobody likes a holier than thou blowhard, try not to gatekeep peoples behavior and certainly don’t create an entire thread on it. That’s in really poor taste.

2. Don’t take yourself (and your opinions) too seriously. Your Sam Cassell Jr November hot take probably won’t hold up anyway.

3. Get in on the jokes
and the mojo rituals.
The ties that bind us.

4. Add value! A fact, a stat, link content, make a podcast with your kid, review a fast food roast beef sandwich. What are you bringing?

5. If you‘ve replied to the same poster three times in the same thread you are undoubtedly ruining that thread. Get a room.

6. Know your history.

7. Nobody adds value in the immediate 12 hours after a loss. It’s a bunch of vented emotion going out into the ether so people don’t kick their dog. Best to wait it out for the sane posts to return.

8. The best way to disagree with someone is to support your counterpoint, not argue against theirs. Especially if your argument against theirs is they are dumb for having an opinion.

9. For better and for worse the yard never forgets. Make a post about running with a cell phone in each hand? We remember. Get kicked out of the garden for arguing with a ref? We remember. Drink and post at your own risk.

10. Take or leave the above, it’s just one guys thoughts after all. Thanks for reading all of these or at least skipping to the bottom. Here’s to another trip around the sun and another chapter in our husky hero’s saga. I’ll see you all in the garden.

OFP

 

[HooperScooper]

This year is my 20th anniversary also. Think I joined right after the Maryland loss in the NCAA Tournament in 2002.

Good advice all around. Except #1 when you're telling posters they shouldn't be calling a player Rashard when his name is Rashad, or calling one Omeka when his name is Emeka (seriously, someone on here actually did that), or another one Sampson when his name is Samson.

 

[OkaForPrez]

This year is my 20th anniversary also. Think I joined right after the Maryland loss in the NCAA Tournament in 2002.

 

[CTBasketball]

Wow 10 years for me. I will try to remember #9 thanks for the heads up.

 

[OkaForPrez]

Wow 10 years for me. I will try to remember #9 thanks for the heads up.

 

[BattersonBoyz]

I was reminded today that I was a freshman at UConn 9 years ago. That hit me hard.

I know I "joined" the yard in 2017 but I was a lurker since probably '14.

I may not post much but this board has given me hours of entertainment over the years.

Bless this site and bless this program, Huskies forever.

Now, who is Sampson Johnson?

 

[OkaForPrez]

Now, who is Sampson Johnson?

Half Baked I Stick By My Story GIF - Half Baked I Stick By My Story For Ryan - Discover & Share GIFs

Click to view the GIF

tenor.com

 

[ClifSpliffy]

Profanity Friday?????

 

[Samoo]

26 years on one platform or another. Isn't there a history thread parked somewhere that goes back to the Courant message board and Husky Hardcore days?

 

[Fishy]

Noobs.

26 years on one platform or another. Isn't there a history thread parked somewhere that goes back to the Courant message board and Husky Hardcore days?

Except you.

And yes, probably. I can look for it.

 

[Fishy]

Boneyard History

Lo, and there it is. I did not read the whole thread, but the first post from Nan has something I wrote a long time ago about the really early days. Down the thread a ways is probably more detail about the later days.

And also this.

Might be the same thing but different

And this

This, too


Amazingly, there are still some of us around from those days and perhaps more amazingly, I still remember the names, like Samoo, who were here way back in the 90s when we crawled out of the ocean. I love that some of the handles in those threads are still here and still post, And I wish some still could….Pudge’s birthday was this weekend - imagine what he would have done to Mike DiMauro after the BC game.

Anyway, my only addition to Oka’s list of Boneyard safety ropes…

It’s okay to have an unexpressed thought every now and again.

 

[mauconnfan]

Well done OFP.

But why do I feel a couple of those were written with a finger pointing at me?

 

[OkaForPrez]

Well done OFP.

But why do I feel a couple of those were written with a finger pointing at me?

Guilty conscience

 

[8893]

Get in on the jokes
and the mojo rituals.
The ties that bind us.

Nice touch

 

[storrsroars]

3. Get in on the jokes
and the mojo rituals.
The ties that bind us.

A good start would be having a jurrrdge who doesn't slink away from or balk at having to perform his appointed duties

 

[HuskyHawk]

How do you even know when you joined? I have no idea.

 

[OkaForPrez]

How do you even know when you joined? I have no idea.

Just remember it was the year I transferred to UConn. I wonder if @temery has access to that meta data from TOS.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

'we crawled out of the ocean.'
i didn't come out of no stinkin ocean. i came out of St V's in Bridgeport, accompanied by an amazing display of fireworks with that Boston Symphony guy and his band playing 'welcome to the jungle.'
as to coming here, it was a linked to reference for 'cord cutters,' and nuthin to do with sports.
i stayed for the jokes, which quite frankly, could use some improvement lately.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Just remember it was the year I transferred to UConn. I wonder if @temery has access to that meta data from TOS.

This was the state of the internet when I graduated. Kind of remarkable to read this really. Wow.

The Internet of 1988

This week is the 25th anniversary of the Robert Morris worm, the first large scale malware on the internet, before there was a world wide web. I covered

tcf.org

 

[Inyatkin]

OK, but Sam Cassell Jr. is going to be huge this year

 

[Marat]

Good stuff OkaForPrez.

I remember being a lurker in the 98-99 season on the old Yard and didn't join until the tournament. I was posting on the big east boards before. There were usually just a few posters there and mainly UConnBill .

 

[McLovin]

Boneyard History

Lo, and there it is. I did not read the whole thread, but the first post from Nan has something I wrote a long time ago about the really early days. Down the thread a ways is probably more detail about the later days.

And also this.

Might be the same thing but different

And this

This, too


Amazingly, there are still some of us around from those days and perhaps more amazingly, I still remember the names, like Samoo, who were here way back in the 90s when we crawled out of the ocean. I love that some of the handles in those threads are still here and still post, And I wish some still could….Pudge’s birthday was this weekend - imagine what he would have done to Mike DiMauro after the BC game.

Anyway, my only addition to Oka’s list of Boneyard safety ropes…

It’s okay to have an unexpressed thought every now and again.

With how easy it is to start a website these days I never really considered how much work went into starting The Boneyard and the headaches of dealing with server space in the early days of the internet before expandable servers on the cloud. That was some cool perspective. Thanks for sharing! Look forward to being a part of the best sports (college or professional) message board for the next 20+ years!

 

[storrsroars]

How do you even know when you joined? I have no idea.

I don't recall either. I was on some forum for '99, but likely not whatever became this. Pretty sure I was here for Caron. More certain I was here for '04. Definitely was here complaining about Rudy Gay after that, lol.

 

[OkaForPrez]

OK, but Sam Cassell Jr. is going to be huge this year

For the record I had the SCJ hot take. That spin move in traffic against the little sisters of the sick poor was incredible.

 

[HuskyHawk]

@Fishy said he hates the quote tweets in that old post, so I won't. But it was fun reading through that. I was one of the originals on Brett Rabideau's mailing list. We were in Batterson B together a couple of years. I had almost forgotten all the Kervicks on that list. Kevin and his son Brian started the Nashua Craft beer cellar, so people should know it's a UConn fan owned business. @Deadrody was another original there (and here it seems) and also connected to the same group of folks in Batterson.

Still don't know when I started here. I know I was on the Rivals site at one point. I think I lived in California then and was starved for UConn information. I think the mail-list folks pointed me to the successor site at some point.